The TikTok algorithm can take us to some wild places, but today’s led us to a gem of a discovery. Mercedes Rose, known for being the original voice actress of Super Mario‘s Princess Rosalina, has an account on the video-sharing site where she has posted some interesting details about her time working on the series.
One of the juiciest tidbits she shared recently actually concerns one of the origins of Rosalina’s character design that’s relatively unexplored – her name. Posted three days ago but with just over a thousand likes, Rose posted a TikTok video explaining what the original name for Rosalina was before Nintendo settled on her existing iconic title. According to the voice actress, Rosalina was originally called Rose. No wonder they chose Mercedes Rose for the role!
Rose recalls the story in her video, explaining how the character breakdown sheet that those auditioning for the role were presented with had the Princess named as Rose. This name makes complete sense when you consider the other princesses are named Peach and Daisy – they’re all naturally growing!
However, as we all know, the name didn’t stick. As she shares, at some point before voice actress Rose went to record in Seattle’s Bad Animals studio, the script had changed the character’s name to Rosalina. From then on, Princess Rosalina was born as the character we all know and love today, and who featured in the recent Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
Rose also discussed that, at points in between the name Rose and Rosalina, the name might have been Rosetta like it currently is in Japan. Her memory on when and if that was the case is unclear – but it has been 20 years!
It’s always fascinating to learn more about the games and characters we’ve known for years. Princess Rosalina has been a fan favorite since she debuted in Super Mario Galaxy, in large part due to Rose’s own voice performance, so we’re grateful she shared her story and deepened our understanding of the legendary princess.
